HUNTSVILLE - Sam Houston
State director of athletics Bobby Williams has announced that David Pierce will
be the next head coach of the Bearkat Baseball team.

"I received an overwhelming
amount of positive feedback from both the baseball and the Sam Houston community
about his candidacy for this job," Williams said. "He is very respected by
everyone I talked to, both inside baseball and out."

Pierce, who served
as an assistant coach at Rice for the last nine years, will replace Mark
Johnson, who announced his retirement from baseball at the beginning of the
season.

"I am excited and
looking forward to this opportunity," Pierce said. "I think everything I have
done in my career, from working in high school, to working at Houston and Rice,
has prepared me for this chance. I want to thank everyone at Rice for all they
have done for me, and I also want to thank Dr. Gibson and Bobby Williams for
giving me this opportunity here at Sam Houston."

He inherits a team
that went 35-24 this past season and finished fifth in the Southland
Conference. The Kats ranked in the top three in the Southland this past season
in batting, pitching and fielding, and will return three regular position
players and two starting pitchers.

"This is such a
good situation here at Sam Houston State with the baseball program, and a lot
of that credit goes to Mark Johnson and the job he did here," Pierce said. "When
you look at where we are located, I think we have a chance to really recruit
well and bring in some very good players on a yearly basis."

Pierce has been the
pitching coach for a Rice Owl team that has been one of the best in college
baseball. In the last five years, the Rice pitching staff has been ranked in
the top 30 in the NCAA in staff ERA, including a No. 4 national mark in 2007.

Pierce got his
first top job as a head coach for five seasons at Pasadena's Dobie High School,
where he led the Longhorns to three District 23-5A championships and three
berths in the Region III semifinals.

"David Pierce has
an excellent track record not only on the college level, but also in high
school as well," Williams said. "He is very familiar with this area in terms of
recruiting, especially Houston, and that was a big factor for us."

Among his honors at
Dobie was winning the district coach of the year award three times, being
tabbed a coach for the Houston area all-star series, and a coach in the United
States Junior Olympic trials.

In his five years
at Dobie, Pierce produced three all-state players, 36 all-district stars, and
10 players who went on to perform at the college level. His star pupil at Dobie
was former college all-America Shane Nance, who went on to pitch the major
leagues for the Milwaukee Brewers.

"Bearkat baseball
has been honored by the number of outstanding candidates for the head baseball
coach position," former head coach Mark Johnson said. "Bobby Williams was very diligent
in this very tough decision. David Pierce will be an outstanding coach. His
resume is very impressive, and he has a track record associated with winning
teams both in high school and at the NCAA level. It will be exciting to watch
Bearkat baseball continue to grow under his tutelage."

Other coaching
stops were at Episcopal and St. Pius X, both high schools in Houston. He also
worked as a batting practice pitcher for the Houston Astros from 1994 through
2000.

He rejoined the
college coaching ranks at Houston in 2001. He helped coach the Cougars to an
appearance in the NCAA Tournament in his first season. In his second year, he
helped take the team further with an NCAA Super Regional appearance, a game
away from the College World Series.

Pierce's playing
career began at St. Pius X High School in Houston. He then went on to Wharton
County Junior College (1982-83) and the University of Houston (1984-85). He
helped pace the Cougars to an appearance in the NCAA Tournament as a senior in
1985. He completed his degree at Houston in 1988.

Pierce (48) and his
wife Susan have two children, Chelsea (21) and Shea (18).